Surgery

Surgical and Anesthetic Facilities

Surgical colic diseases may mimic medical colic ( gas and spasmodic colic) in the early stages and temporarily improve with treatment, only to have pain return within minutes to hours. Criterion used to differentiate a surgical colic are the degree of pain, heart rate, rectal exam, appearance of abdominal fluid and response to pain relievers. Alpine Animal Hospital has diagnostic ultrasound and in-house cytology and complete blood count serum analysis abilities to help differentiate surgical from medical colics as early as possible.

A horse that is traumatizing himself by rolling on the ground or has a heart rate greater than 60 early in the disease is a possible surgical candidate. Chronic non remittent pain is an indicator for referral. If your horse is colicing we suggest with holding feed for 8-12 hrs and until your horse can be examined.

Additional surgical services we provide are:

  • Advanced oral and maxillofacial
  • Trauma care and lacerations and cast management
  • Neurectomies
  • Check ligament desmotomies
  • Foal Orthopedic procedures
  • Enucleations
  • Fractured splint bone removal
  • Castrations- routine and cryptorchid
  • Biopsy and out sourced histopathology
  • Cryosurgery
  • Bovine and equine dystocia’s and Cesarean sections

If surgery is an option for your horse, it is important to get an early diagnosis since the horse’s ability to survive surgery lessens rapidly as he becomes sicker. The prognosis for surgery is much improved by early referral and varies greatly with respect to the surgical disease present. Treating the horse with pain relievers before the vet sees the horse may delay referral and worsen the final outcome. Twisting or torsion of the colon and small intestines have a significantly worse prognosis. Early referral will improve these odds greatly.

Colic surgery can be expensive and varies in price depending on the particular surgical disease and whether your horse experiences complications postoperatively.

Newsletter Signup

Sign up for more articles

Location

Find us on the map

Office Hours

After hour emergency services are available

Monday:

8:00 am-5:00 pm

Tuesday:

8:00 am-5:00 pm

Wednesday:

8:00 am-5:00 pm

Thursday:

8:00 am-5:00 pm

Friday:

8:00 am-5:00 pm

Saturday:

We are closed but available for emergencies

Sunday:

We are closed but available for emergencies